Vol 26, No 1 (2006)
Articles

Gandhi and bin Laden: Religious Conflict at the Polar Extremes

James L. Rowell
Lafayette College

Published 2006-05-01

How to Cite

Rowell, J. L. (2006). Gandhi and bin Laden: Religious Conflict at the Polar Extremes. Journal of Conflict Studies, 26(1). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/view/2168

Abstract

The current conflict of political terror advocated by religious Islamists, such as Osama bin Laden, threaten to eclipse the rele vance of non-violent strategies advocated by Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. An examination of the relative strengths and weakness of the tactics of non-violence (ahimsa) and violence (jihad) will show some short-term advantages for violence, that are serious ly mitigated by other long-term and tactical weaknesses. This inves tigation also suggests new ways (a chemical model) for understand ing the moral polar extremes of religious belief represented by Gandhi and bin Laden.